It was nothing but a exhibition spectacle between golf’s two biggest stars in 2012 and both were paid hefty appearance fees to show up in China.

This year, The Match at Mission Hills will be much the same when Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy go mano-a-mano. Last year Tiger reportedly was paid $2-million and McIlroy $1-million for their three-and-a-half hour, 18-hole jaunt (hey, you’re not going to get these two guys for free, let alone in China) and Woods will be looking to regain bragging rights from his young foil after McIlroy bested him by a shot in the inaugural event.

But that was last year, and outside of the fact that it’s cool to see two of the game’s current greats duel (albeit for a cash windfall), this one is intriguing for reasons very different from the last.

In fact, the difference is almost a complete 180-degree flip-flop.

Last year, one man came in as the world’s best, the other struggling to regain form.

One was coming off a PGA Tour player of the year campaign while the other had struggled with his shotmaking.

One led the official world golf ranking by nearly four points over the No. 2 on that list.

One was enjoying a new romance with a blonde sports star and the other’s personal life was mired in speculation.

While the Match at Mission Hills will be nothing more than “a bit of fun,” as McIlroy called it the year prior, the turnaround in the two men’s fortunes is the notable part this time around.

In the time between last year’s event in China — that one dubbed The Duel at Jinsha Lake — and this one, Woods has retaken his world No. 1 mantle and McIlroy has fallen to fourth.

McIlroy joined Woods as a Nike company man, but the transition has not been a smooth one.

While the 24-year-old Northern Irishman struggled to find his game throughout 2013, Woods suddenly found his, reeling off five victories in a year in which he earned his 11th PGA Tour player of the year award.

Heck, Woods has even rebounded from one of the most public of falling outs with his significant other while squirrel-cuddling downhill skier Lindsay Vonn. On the other hand, there have been recent rumours that McIlroy’s much-publicized relationship with tennis player Caroline Wozniaki may be on the rocks (which he reportedly has denied).

McIlroy has struggled mightily in 2013. The two-time major champion had just one top-five finish on the PGA Tour and he’s currently outside the top 60 in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai (which he also won last season).

As he makes his way around Asia this month, McIlroy is collecting princely appearance fees as he goes, including in last week’s Kolon Korea Open, where he was paid a reported $1.5 million to simply show up.

But the encouraging news isn’t that the young star is lining his pockets, it’s that he seems to be making some progress with his game.

McIlroy finished second in the Korea Open (even though he was helped by two-stroke penalties to two of the tournament’s leaders) and afterwards he was sounding confident with his closing round of 67.

“I could have shot anything, absolutely anything,” McIlroy told the OneAsia Tour. “I only missed two greens and had so many chances, but ... I just didn’t hole enough putts.

“I created so many more chances today that it could have been 61, 62. It just wasn’t to be. I didn’t birdie any of the par fives, which was disappointing. It was tough. I felt like it could have been so much lower the last couple of days, yet I’m only, what, three off the leader? A little frustrating, but I’m happy with how I hit it.

“I hit the ball really well off the tee and my iron play was very solid as well. I feel like my game is in good shape going into the next few weeks, and that’s a good thing.”

That does sound like a good thing, but it also sounds like what the defending champion was saying heading into the PGA Championship a few months ago.

We all know Monday’s Match at Mission Hills means nothing in the grand scheme of things and both McIlroy and Woods will say and do all the right things. They’ll compliment each other and claim they’re not rivals and they’ll have a “bit of fun” out on the course and at the bank, but for McIlroy, the stakes going forward are higher.

If he can’t find his game, and soon, his “heir apparent” status may suffer. He doesn’t yet have the resume of Woods and these big money exhibitions may lose some of their lustre if there’s no apparent power struggle.

McIlroy needs to get this sorted just as badly as Woods needs a major. They are both good for the game, and so is a rivalry, real or perceived.

As Advertised in the Winnipeg SUN

Role reversal for Woods, McIlroy heading into duel in China

It was nothing but a exhibition spectacle between golf’s two biggest stars in 2012 and both were paid hefty appearance fees to show up in China.

This year, The Match at Mission Hills will be much the same when Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy go mano-a-mano. Last year Tiger reportedly was paid $2-million and McIlroy $1-million for their three-and-a-half hour, 18-hole jaunt (hey, you’re not going to get these two guys for free, let alone in China) and Woods will be looking to regain bragging rights from his young foil after McIlroy bested him by a shot in the inaugural event.

But that was last year, and outside of the fact that it’s cool to see two of the game’s current greats duel (albeit for a cash windfall), this one is intriguing for reasons very different from the last.